3 plead not guilty in NJ 'Baby Bones' case

FREEHOLD, N.J.—Three New York City residents have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the 2002 death of a 9-year-old girl whose burned remains were found in central New Jersey.

The girl's 39-year-old aunt, Likisha Jones, and her husband, Godfrey Gibson, are charged along with the girl's 35-year-old uncle, James Jones. All three pleaded not guilty Monday in Monmouth County to charges including evidence tampering and conspiracy.

Authorities say the defendants dumped and burned the body of 9-year-old Jon-Niece Jones after she died at her aunt's Manhattan home. Prosecutors say she suffered years of abuse and neglect by her mother, who also died in 2002.

The investigation came to be known as the "Baby Bones" after the girl's skeletal remains were discovered in Upper Freehold Township in 2005.